Beset by mismanagement and unable to convince overseers that it had repaired extensive problems, City College of San Francisco will lose its accreditation a year from now and its elected Board of Trustees will be stripped of decision-making powers, the college learned Wednesday.

The decision by an accrediting commission allows the college of 85,000 students - among the largest in the country - to stay open until July 31, 2014, unless an appeal is successful or if the college can make enough progress to win an extension.

State law prohibits taxpayer funds from going to unaccredited institutions, so if the commission's decision stands, the college would probably be forced to shut its doors.

City College will appeal the decision, interim Chancellor Thelma Scott-Skillman said as she, Brice Harris, chancellor of California's community college system, and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee announced the stunning verdict.

Harris said the college system's Board of Governors will appoint a special trustee "with extraordinary powers" next week to replace the trustees. That person will run the college with the aim of restoring it to full favor, Harris said.

Meanwhile, he said, students are encouraged to enroll, and the search for a permanent chancellor will proceed.

Unaddressed concerns

The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges voted to revoke accreditation because City College had fully addressed just two of the commission's 14 major recommendations - accreditation being voluntary, they were not requirements - and it corrected only a few of the many deficiencies cited, the commission said in a statement posted on its website.

"While many college personnel have worked hard to correct deficiencies, CCSF would need more time and (a) more cohesive institutional-wide effort to fully comply with accreditation requirements," commission Chairwoman Sherrill Amador said in the statement.

The commission is a private, nonprofit agency, one of six regional accrediting bodies overseen by the U.S. Department of Education. It has 19 voting members, mostly college chancellors, faculty and education experts.

Severe sanction

The commission placed City College on its most severe sanction a year ago, citing a broken system of governance and fiscal planning in which a skeletal crew of administrators and bickering employees failed to make necessary budget cuts even as state funding dried up.

The commission gave City College eight months to show why it should remain accredited, a deadline that expired in March. The commission reached its verdict in June but only revealed it Wednesday.

College faculty, staff, administrators and students had tried for a long, nail-biting year to repair all of the deficiencies.

"It's shocking and outrageous, given the massive changes we've made," said John Rizzo, president of the college trustees. "We've reorganized every level of the management structure, in every department. We've cut pay. We've funded the reserve for nine years. ... This is really bad for San Francisco."

Coalition outraged

"This announcement clearly shows that the (accrediting commission) is an out-of-control, rogue institution that must be stopped by the (U.S.) Department of Education," said Wendy Kaufman, an engineering instructor and coalition leader.

Student trustee Shanell Williams, also a coalition leader, called on politicians to "step in immediately to reverse this outrageous announcement."

The coalition has backed a complaint filed recently by the California Federation of Teachers with the U.S. Department of Education alleging that the commission has overstepped its authority in sanctioning City College.

"An institution that does not meet accreditation standards cheats its students and its community," Broad said in a statement.

If City College loses its accreditation, it would become only the second public community college in California to do so. The first, Compton College in Los Angeles County, saw its accreditation revoked in 2006 and was absorbed into a neighboring community college district.

Students who attend an unaccredited institution are ineligible to receive federal or state financial aid, and their diplomas often mean little to employers.

Community's workers

Thousands of people depend on City College for a leg up into the middle class. The school produces paramedics, phlebotomists, restaurant workers, nurses, firefighters, police and other experts who keep the Bay Area's economy humming.

Hundreds of students earn credits for transfer to university. Immigrants also turn to the college to learn English, while senior citizens find intellectual stimulation there through music and art, memoir-writing and useful classes like nutrition education.

"This college has been the hope of so many people for so many generations," the mayor said. "We have to respond to this accrediting decision with more than what was offered in the past."

College officials clearly tried hard in the past year to satisfy the accrediting requirements. When the college was almost bankrupt last fall, officials persuaded city voters to approve a parcel tax for the school that, along with money from Proposition 30, last year's statewide tax measure, would put it back in the game.

Bigger than money

But money alone wasn't the problem. There were so many issues, in fact, that officials likened the effort to changing tires on a speeding car.

College officials unilaterally cut pay and entered into battle with angry faculty in a labor dispute that has yet to be resolved.

They reorganized the management structure against the will of department chairs. To fix the college's tangled decision-making structure, college trustees also dismantled a decades-long system of faculty leadership over the strong objections of employees.

The trustees also eliminated a multiheaded hydra of 46 committees that often served to obstruct and control decision-making. They also pumped up reserves and established a nine-year fiscal plan.

Recommendations

Here is an abridged version of the 14 recommendations for City College of San Francisco from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges in 2012. Although characterized as recommendations, they are required for accreditation.

1. Revise the college's mission statement.

2. Develop effective planning processes.

3. Assess the effectiveness of the institution.

4. Identify what students should learn in each course and assess the effectiveness of courses and programs.

5. Assess the effectiveness of student support services.

6. Evaluate all employees responsible for student progress.

7. Create a way to determine if there are enough qualified support staff and administrators.

8. Include the cost of running buildings in long-term financial planning.